McKeesport
Links Media * Three in law enforcement run for district judge ** In the event you want to talk to McKeesport police Chief Joe Pero about the 2007 primary election for district judge, here is one thing to remember: Don't do it. There are three candidates who are current and former officers on the force, and he is endorsing none of them. The chief wants the department and its officers left out of the political process. ** "I've made it clear candidates not to involve the police department in any way," the chief said recently. Police taking sides in the race is a bad idea, he said, because, eventually, officers will be called to the witness stand in cases that are tried before the winner, whoever he is. ** The three candidates: Deputy Chief of Police Mark Holtzman, 50; Lt. Theodore Dixon, 54; and former McKeesport Detective Capt. Eugene Riazzi, 50, now a deputy for the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department, are registered Democrats planning to cross-file for the May primary. Blogs * http://mckeesport.dementia.org/blog/000727.html Fast Edie visits McKeesport with a cardboard check from November 30, 2006 Something is rotten in Mon River hamlet ::Source, Eric Heyl, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Sunday, March 26, 2006 Good day, folks, and welcome to "Community Spotlight" -- a recurring feature in this column, or at least one that will be when it appears more than once. Today, let's profile a sleepy Monongahela River hamlet, a piece of Americana no different, really, from hundreds of other aging Rust Belt communities. Let's shine the spotlight on good old ordinary McKeesport. Location: About 15 miles southeast of Pittsburgh Land area: 5.2 square miles Population: Approximately 24,000 Male population percentage: 45.9 percent Female population percentage: 54.1 percent Percentage of population that amazingly reappears a decade after mysteriously vanishing and turns out to have been in town the whole time: Approximately 0.0000416. After disappearing from home in 1996, Tanya Kach walked into a local deli last week and explained she had spent the intervening years locked in an upstairs bedroom in her boyfriend's parents' house. His parents and her boyfriend's son supposedly never noticed she was there. School system: McKeesport Area School District Number of district students: Approximately 4,500 Number of district teachers: Approximately 350 Percentage of district teachers recently suspended for allegedly having sex on district property: Approximately 0.005. Patrick Collins and Angela DiBattista were placed on leave in January after being accused of using a Cornell Intermediate School classroom as a trysting place. Percentage of teachers not suspended for, but accused of, standing guard while Collins and DiBattista engaged in extracurricular activities: Approximately 0.005. Try to imagine the conversation that resulted in two other teachers allegedly becoming carnal watchdogs: "Hey, Mike, are you busy during your study hall period? I need a huge favor .... " Number of school security guards charged with statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse: One. That would be Thomas Hose, accused of keeping Kach locked in his bedroom along with his old comic book and baseball card collections. Noteworthy community attractions: Renziehausen Park, Gergely Riverfront Park and McKee's Point Marina; the Fifth Avenue GetGo convenience store. The GetGo has been a popular stop for the curious since a horrified clerk notified police last month that someone had placed and heated a severed male body part inside the store's microwave oven. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after discovering it was only a urine-filled sex toy placed there by someone ingeniously attempting to beat an employment drug test. And, in a measure of positive news for those who like their buffalo chicken wraps heated, the sales of microwaves in McKeesport rose by at least one that day. City summary: Until the demise of the steel industry, McKeesport was a thriving community with dozens of dramas unfolding at any given time. It's a pity nothing much out of the ordinary seems to happen there these days. : Eric Heyl is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached at eheyl@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7857. Links Media * Penn State Mckeesport might change its name to Penn State Allegheny. * McKeesport mayor finds much to brag about in state of the city address, June 22, 2006, by Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, It was time for Jim Brewster to brag. * McKeesport girl missing, in need of medicine -- July 26, 2006 -- Post-Gazette -- Police seek help -- Anyone with information can call McKeesport police at 412-675-5015, or 412-675-5016. The family of a McKeesport teen, missing '''since last month,' is gravely concerned because the girl may be in need of medical attention. category:where